Indie Author Interview – Elle Jacklee

Indie Author Interview – Elle Jacklee

I featured indie author Elle Jacklee here a few weeks ago, and promised an interview with her to come.  Well, I’ve got that interview with Elle this morning…

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Who is your favorite author? I couldn’t possibly narrow it down to one! So, I hope you don’t mind, but the rule bender in me has narrowed it down to one per genre:

Fantasy: Jeff Wheeler

Middle grade/YA: J.K. Rowling

Steampunk: Lindsay Buroker

Historical Fiction: Kate Mosse

 

How do you describe your writing style? Classic, in the vein of C.S. Lewis. At least that’s what some readers have said. My hope is that my writing style is timeless and will resonate for years to come.

 

Use no more than two sentences. Why should we read your book? In The Tree of Mindala, good and evil are not at opposite ends of the spectrum but overlapping a line that can be blurry at times, which makes it somewhat unique. Also, though there is a prominent main character, she is truly part of an ensemble cast who intermittently share the spotlight with her, offering several perspectives to the reader. Oh, and because it’s really good 😉 Oops! That was three sentences! There’s that rule bender again…

 

Have any of your characters been modeled after yourself? Not consciously. But as the characters all come from me, I think it would be naïve for me to think a bit of me isn’t interwoven into them, even if I might not recognize it right away. The main similarity, though, would have to be with Miranda Moon. Like her, I have been accused of having an overactive imagination…

 

If you could exchange lives with any of your characters for a day which character would you choose and why? That would be Skye, the Morphiad. He has the ability to morph into any creature that he has ever encountered. It definitely gives him a unique perspective, the chance to see the world through others’ eyes. That’s something that I know would be intriguing, if not always pleasant, but beneficial nonetheless.

 

What books have most influenced your life? As someone who reads every chance she gets, I’m sure I’ve been influenced in ways I’m not even aware of by every book I’ve read, especially as a writer. But one that stands out from recent memory is Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol. That’s where I first read about the Noetic Sciences. For those who are not familiar, the theory, in a nutshell, is that we all have the power to have an impact, a power that can actually be measured in an empirical way. It reinforced my belief in the power of positive thinking! Also, Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture made a huge impact on me. It is, in my opinion, a guidebook for life applicable to absolutely everyone.

 

If you could select one book that you could rewrite and add your own unique twist on, which book would that be and why? First off, let me qualify my answer by saying I wouldn’t ever presume to know better than an author regarding his/her story. But for the sake of the exercise, I would say, for me, it was really hard to swallow (spoiler alert!) the death of Prim, Katniss’ little sister, in Mockingjay, the third book in the Hunger Games Trilogy. I understand why Suzanne Collins did it, but it was hard to take all the same. I kept hoping that in the end we’d find out that it was a mistake and she really hadn’t died, but no such luck. That said, I really admire Suzanne Collins’ work, and the Hunger Games trilogy had me stealing every moment I could and staying up way too late to read on. I can only hope to be able to capture readers’ attention as she has been able to do.

 

Beatles or Monkees? Why? Beatles because I don’t really know anything by the Monkees but some of my favorite songs are ones by the Beatles.

 

Who should play you in a film of your life? Anne Hathaway

You can follow Elle on Facebook, and on Twitter, and you can buy her book, “The Tree of Mindala”, on Amazon!

 

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One Reply to “Indie Author Interview – Elle Jacklee”

  1. Thanks again, James, for having me and introducing me to your followers! It’s been a pleasure and an honor!

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